Health practice and management
Health-care providers and health-care services play an important part in the return to work (RTW) of injured workers and in disability management processes at workers’ compensation boards in Canada. IWH research supports front-line health-care practitioners—including primary care physicians and allied health-care professionals, who support or treat workers with injuries and illnesses that affect their ability to work.
Featured
Research Highlights
Telementoring program addresses return-to-work challenges for Ontario health-care providers
An IWH study has found that Ontario health-care providers face a range of challenges when treating workers with a work-related injury or illness and helping them return to work—a telementoring program called ECHO Occupational Environmental Medicine helped providers overcome some of these challenges.
Published: July 8, 2025
At Work article
How employers are improving RTW outcomes for public safety workers with PSTI
Public safety employers face a range of challenges when supporting workers to return to work after experiencing a post-traumatic stress injury. Employers have developed strategies to face these challenges, as outlined in a recent IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Published: March 12, 2025
Research Highlights
Telementoring program addresses return-to-work challenges for Ontario health-care providers
An IWH study has found that Ontario health-care providers face a range of challenges when treating workers with a work-related injury or illness and helping them return to work—from communication issues with compensation boards to the complexities of working with multiple parties. The researchers also found that a telementoring program called ECHO Occupational Environmental Medicine helped providers overcome some of these challenges.
Published: July 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Standardizing health outcomes for people with rheumatoid arthritis receiving disease modifying drug therapy: a rapid review of patient-decision aids and preference studies to inform the development of OMERACT Health Outcome Descriptors
Published: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, June 2025
At Work article
How employers are improving RTW outcomes for public safety workers with PSTI
Work-related post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) are complex and highly prevalent among public safety workers such as those in police and fire services. Faced with the challenges of supporting employees who have experienced such an injury, public safety employers have developed strategies to improve return to work (RTW) after PTSI. These strategies were highlighted in a recent IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Published: March 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Implementing the PEIR Framework and PEIRS-22 to facilitate improved and sustainable patient engagement in OMERACT
Published: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, February 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Summary of findings tables for measurement property reviews: the evolution and application of OMERACT's summary of measurement properties (SOMP) Table
Published: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, February 2025
At Work article
Employers face challenges in supporting public safety personnel with post-traumatic stress injuries
Workers in public safety jobs, like firefighters or police, are often exposed to potentially traumatic events and may experience mental health injuries as a result. In Ontario, a pilot program has been developed to help treat these workers. To identify any needed changes to the program, IWH researchers asked employers about their experiences helping these workers return to work after a mental health injury.
Published: January 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Project ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine: a qualitative study of healthcare providers supporting workers with work-related injuries and illnesses
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, January 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Clinical tools to assess functional capacity during risk assessment before elective noncardiac surgery : a scoping review
Published: Annals of Internal Medicine, January 2025
Journal article
Journal article
ECHO OEM virtual community of learning for primary care
Published: Occupational Medicine, September 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Guideline for reporting systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments (OMIs): PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024
Published: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, July 2024